Paul, Stojakovic lead Hornets to third straight win

Nov 19, 2006 - 3:59 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Chris Paul seems to improve every time
he and the New Orleans Hornets take the floor.

Paul scored a career-high 35 points and Peja Stojakovic added
20, including the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second
left, as the Hornets posted a 99-96 victory over the Minnesota
Timberwolves.

Paul scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and shot 12-of-18
from the field as the Hornets extended their winning streak to
three games.

"Chris was amazing; getting to the basket, making shots, getting
shots for other guys," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "He did
what he was supposed to do tonight. He saw that we weren't
playing really well and took it upon himself, started pushing it
even harder, which makes the guys that are out there run. He
took it upon himself to make sure we got out of here with a
victory."

"I wanted to make the effort to get there (in the fourth
quarter)," Paul said. "The only way you have a chance is to be
aggressive. If I can (get) into the lane, I can make a shot or
get fouled."

Stojakovic, who had eight points in the final period, took an
inbounds pass from Desmond Mason, turned and squared up from 25
feet away to hit the game-winner with 0.6 seconds on the shot
clock.

"I was screening for CP (Paul) because he was so hot at that
point with six (points) in a row," Stojakovic said. "Tyson
(Chandler) set a good brush screen for me, and it was a pretty
good look."

"He (Stojakovic) was the first look," Scott said. "I told
(Mason, the inbounder) that, 'You might see Bobby (Jackson) and
he might be open, but your primary goal right now is that I
think Peja will come off 'naked', and he came out pretty wide
open. He had the time to catch it and really take his time, and
you can't give that guy that look."

Kevin Garnett fired an off-balance shot from the arc which hit
the backboard as time expired for the Timberwolves, who absorbed
their sixth loss in seven outings.

"I wish there would've been more seconds on the clock for us to
run another play," Timberwolves guard Mike James said. "It
really doesn't matter how you play in the beginning of the game,
what matters is how you end the game, and even though we played
well for three quarters, we were still outscored in the fourth
quarter, 32-22."

Minnesota led, 74-67, entering the fourth but the Hornets went
on an 11-3 run in the first 5:12 of the period, capped by
Jackson's three-point play to take a 78-77 lead.

"It shows the poise that this team has," Paul said. "The
additions we made in the offseason, we brought a lot of guys in
that have been in these situations time and time again. We
don't let the crowd affect us, we just stick to what we do."

Garnett finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds for Minnesota,
which shot 41 percent (35-of-85) from the field.

Mason scored 10 points for the Hornets, who shot 48 percent
(39-of-81) and have beaten the Timberwolves three of the last
four games.